Site News: August, 2016

First of all, I'm feeling much better, having slept about thirteen hours Friday night while my throat decided to stop feeling like sandpaper.

So let's talk blog.

There won't be a live-action film review this month, since I've chosen to crack down on the Marvel Animation Universe. This month, I'll be finishing up the first season of Ultimate Spider-Man before tackling Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. for the first time in a while.

And yes, the View Log of Ghostbusters is coming. I've been... working very hard to tackle that, let me tell you.

Anyway, August begins tomorrow with Avengers Assemble's take on Captain America: the Winter Soldier. See you then!

Sick today

No post. Monthly update tomorrow.

Review: Agent Carter "The Iron Ceiling"

I’ve spent more than half the first season of this show examining feminism as it pertains to Peggy Carter’s quest to prove her worth in the ridiculously sexist 1940s. I’ve noted time and again that Peggy Carter is a capable agent with a plethora of useful skills under her belt.

But I would briefly like to indulge in an altogether different sort of character analysis.

She is really hot with her hair up and dressed in tactical gear. Like, yowza.

That is all.

Recap: Agent Carter: "The Iron Ceiling"

Today, Agent Peggy Carter does what she does… well, I was going to say that she does what she does best, but she doesn’t actually punch a single person in the face this week. But as a consolation prize, she’ll be put back in her natural element alongside Captain America’s old crew.

So I guess that makes up for it.

Agent Carter Recap Tomorrow

It will go up between 1 PM and 5 PM. Scout's honor.

Busy with the changing seasons, among other things. Lots of things.

But things should stabilize for August.

Review: Agent Carter "The Blitzkrieg Button"

Hey, let’s see how that selfie they took in this episode turned out!

Like most selfies, really.

Recap: Agent Carter "The Blitzkrieg Button"

Today, as the show begins to change direction, a familiar face returns!

Here's a hint: It's not Agent Krzeminski. 

What? Too soon?

Agent Carter Tomorrow

There would have been a post today, but... uh... I'm working on another project at the moment.

Yep. Doing some art.

And that's it.

Nothing else has been taking up my time in any way.

Whaaaaaah? Where did that come from? I don't even know what a Pokey-Man is.

So.... yeah. Agent Carter Recap/Review tomorrow.

Review: Teen Titans Go! "The Date"

Sometimes, dear readers, I feel a little bad about what I do here.

One of the things I try to never do is personally attack the creators behind these shows. And I don't mean that I have to stop myself from busting their kneecaps with a baseball bat, or anything. While I'll criticize scripts, performances, animation, and so on, I do understand that time and effort goes into everything I talk about. Even Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.

But sometimes, I worry that the things I say could be taken personally by the people who create the stuff I talk about. After all, they're the ones pouring time, effort, and creativity into something while I sit at my computer and write thousand-word essays on where they succeeded or failed.

I didn't come here to uniformly bash Teen Titans Go!, I came here to take it one episode at a time and judge each one in turn. And yet, once again, I'm about to discuss why this episode failed.

But now I also get to talk about how at least a couple aspects of it are on the right track.

Recap: Teen Titans Go! "The Date"

"The Date."

A title that will invariably make fans of the original show think of "Date with Destiny," where not only did Starfire clearly have feelings for Robin, but the two of them shared a romantic dance.

Ah, the pairing that launched a thousand shippers.

Well... forget that. Because Robin's about to spend the rest of Teen Titans Go! attempting to woo an uninterested space princess.

But I'm not going to criticize the show for trolling its audience. Because I've seen the later episodes, and I know what it looks like when Teen Titans Go! trolls its audience. This is not what such trolling looks like.

They have not yet begun to troll.

Review: Gravity Falls "Fight Fighters"

I hope Dipper learned his lesson in this episode. Video games are not to be used to play god.

Except for the Black and White games, but you know what I mean.

Recap: Gravity Falls "Fight Fighters"

DIPPER shall create the JOURNEY for great LEGENDS. Fight shall exist, and BATTLE shall DECISIVE. Will YOU are brought to courage and hunger to the witness BRAVE?

Challenge and might!

 Will all Dipper's Wendy are belong to Robbie?

Review: "Captain America: The Winter Soldier"

You know, in the theatre, when they revealed that S.H.I.E.L.D. was simply a front for HYDRA, my first thought was “I wonder what that means for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

I can only imagine how Joss Whedon felt.
 

A bit like Falcon, I'd imagine.

Review: Teen Titans Go! "Double Trouble"

You know, I would die a happy man if I never saw a face as creepy as the one Beast Boy made in this episode.

Yeesh. Yes, that one.

I mean, how could that possibly get any creepier?

That was not a question I wanted answered.

Recap: Teen Titans Go! "Double Trouble"

Sometimes, I wish I had a magical duplicate of myself. It sure would help me get these blog posts out on time when other work piles up.

Then again, cloning never goes well. Spider-Man's Clone Saga, "Double Dipper," every other Calvin and Hobbes strip...

Cloning is bad news, man.

But it time to see what sort of unique spin Teen Titans Go! puts on the ol' standard clone story.

Spoiler alert: None whatsoever.

Review delayed to Sunday

Sorry, but I accidentally deleted the draft.

It'll be up on Sunday.

I blame HYDRA.

Recap: "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" Part 3: Freedom of Information

The Captain vs America!

Of course, “America” is represented by an organization filled with Nazis. So much for the film impartially looking at both sides of the “Freedom vs. Security” argument. 

Wait, did this movie just Godwin itself?

Recap: "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" Part 2: Right to Bear Arms

Nick Fury shot!

Who could be behind this?

...Other than the powerful, influential character we've never seen before this movie played by an actor too awesome for Marvel to hire across multiple films?

It sure is a mystery.

Recap: "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" Part 1: Patriot Acts

Well, another Fourth of July, come and gone. For me it was a day filled with parades and sunburn, capped off with fireworks and an old man hitting my girlfriend’s car because she had the nerve to get rudely cut off by his poor driving.

But this guy more than made up for that.

So let’s begin the look at Captain America’s new place within the Marvel Cinematic Universe and see if he even likes where he’s ended up.

Probably likes it better than being in a Fantastic Four movie, that’s for sure.

Recap: "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" Intro

Happy Fourth of July, everybody!

Everybody has different ways of celebrating the birthday of the United States. Most of the world, not being part of America, doesn't celebrate it at all.

People like this more than make up for the rest of the world, though.

Some people honor the nation's veterans, some people set off fireworks in their backyard... and for whatever reason, an embarrassingly-high number of people here in Michigan choose to display Confederate flags. Which confuses me. Because Michigan fought against slavery during that particular war... so why are my neighbors flying their racist, racist flags?

I mean, why would you fly the flag of a long-defeated racist rebellion against the country you're supposedly celebrating? Isn't that like waving an EU flag to show how much you love Brexit?

...I'm getting off topic. I know we're all here to talk about people in costumes punching each other.

Here's my point: America has as many viewpoints as there are Americans. Gun control, abortions, taxes, Confederate flags, you name it. America is a land of many different viewpoints that sometimes fundamentally disagree with each other.

So when Captain America is supposedly a representation of "America"... what does that even mean? How could a single person possibly exemplify "America" when every American has a different definition of what America stands for and how to go about representing it?

Yeah, the Captain America movies certainly have a few philosophical obstacles to hurdle before they can get down to business and show superheroes punching bad guys.

Like eating your broccoli before you can have dessert. Violent, violent dessert.

Site News: July Announcements

Okay, first of all, let me explain the last delay.

A combination of power/internet outages as well as a time-sensitive project I was finishing up brought me a double-whammy.

What project, you might wonder?

Well, I've been hinting at this for a while, but it's time to spill the beans. I've been commissioned to do album artwork for a good high school buddy of mine who creates music under the name Vest and Tyler.

My first bit of artwork for him (for his latest song "Rumble Pak") can be found on his Soundcloud page, along with his music. If you're ever in the Ann Arbor, Michigan area, you should seek out his shows; the guy's made up of 50% energy, 50% talent, and 50% fun. He's the only human I know who's 150%. He and his affiliates, the Neti Collective, are super-talented and I'm grateful for the work they're giving me, as well.

Unfortunately, the power outage got me a bit behind on things, so Saturday's post is being postponed to ensure that my Recap/Review of the Captain America sequel goes up as planned.

But speaking of the Captain America sequel, NewtCave readers, it's time for a bit of a shake-up that's been coming for a while. You all may have noticed that the Marvel/DC ratio on my blog is a bit skewed toward the House of Ideas. Well... I'm going to try and fix that while also killing another bird with that same stone.

I've been burning through the Marvel Cinematic Universe films over the past couple years, and I'm quickly reaching the point where it's getting hard to analyze each film within the greater scope of the MCU because the full implications haven't yet played out. So after this month's Recap/Review of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, I'll be shifting my focus over to DC, since I've only looked at two DC movies so far. And ideally, I'd like to cover the rest of the Superman movies and all the Batman movies before my eventual look at the DC Cinematic Universe begins with Man of Steel.

"Really? Really?"

What?

"Don't play dumb, Newt."

I don't need to play. Seriously, what's wrong?

"After Cap 2, you'll be only two movies away from covering my movie.
And now you're putting it on hold? Are you doing this just to spite me?"

Hey, I'm putting Guardians of the Galaxy on hold, too, and you don't see Star-Lord complaining. I'm not abandoning the MCU, I'm just going to wait a little longer than usual before I do Guardians of the Galaxy. And by extension, Ant-Man.

"But I've been waiting for you to cover my movie since it came out in 2015."

And I waited for Ant-Man to come out since 2008.

"...Complaint withdrawn."

Dang right.

Anyway, I'll be covering the Captain America sequel to start off this month before returning to Gravity Falls and Agent Carter. And at some point, you can expect a View Log of Ghostbusters.

See you then!